Improvement



l CLINTON FOSTER, OF PRAIRIE CITY, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROAD-GRADFNG MACHINES.

Specilication forming'part of Letters Patent No. 2, H53, dated April 5*, L5M.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CLINTON Fos'rnn, of Prairie City, in the county of McDonough and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Grading-Machine for Repairing Roads and for Similar Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciticatiom in which- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section ofv my invention, taken in the line ma', Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view ofthe same; Fig. 3, a detached perspective view of a portion of the same; Fig. 4, a detached inverted plan ot' the cap of the dirt'conveyin g wheel pertaining to the same.

letters of .reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in the employment or useof a rotating selfadjusting wheel pro- 1 A represents a framing, which may be of rectangular form and placed on a truck or mounted on wheels in any proper way. To one side of this framing A there is attached by a hinge, B, a bar, C, having an upright pin.

or shaft, D, secured to its backend. On this pin or shaft D there is fitted loosely a hub, a, of a wheel, E, the arms bot which are attached to the hub a., and extend out beyond the riin or felly c a certain distance, as shown in Fig. 2.

To the part of each arm b which extends out beyond the rim or felly c there is secured by joints l a bucket, F, which are formed of dat metal plates cut in segment form, and having a lip or flange, 6V turned up at theirouter edges, as shown clearly in Fig., 1. Each bucket F- is connected by a chain, f, to the end of a crank, g, which is at the end of a rod, G. These rods G are tted radially on the wheel E, in .bearings or'guides h, and at the inner end ot'- each rod Gr there is a crank, 1T,

the position of thev latter being at right angles to thecranks g. The cranks i are over the upper surface of a ring, j, which encompasses the hub ci.

His a'cap, which is secured on the upper part of the pin or shaft D, and has a groove,

Icinade concentrically in its under surface, inx

which the cranks il at the inner ends of the rods G work. This cap H keeps the cranksi down nearly in a horizontal position and the cranks g in an elevated state, so that the buckets F will be kept up in the saine pla-ne with the wheel E. In the under side of the cap H, in groove 7c, there is made a recess, l, (see Figs. l and 4,) whichvallows the cranks 'i to rise or turn up as they reach it, and consequently allow the buckets F to drop or swing down, so that they may discharge their load beyond or at the outer side of the bar C, the buckets being elevated or raised as the cranks 'i pass out from said recess l.

I represents a plow, which may he of the usual form for turning a furrow-slice. The beam m `of this plow is attached by a horizontal pin, n, to a bar, J, the front end of which is attached by a pin, o, to the framing A. The front part of the plowbearn mis connected to an upright, K, the npperend of which is itted upon the front end of a lever, L, the latter having its fulcruin p .in an upright, M, on the framing, and extending back beyond the plow I, as shown in Fig. 3.

The plow I is by the side of the wheel E, and as the machine is drawn along, the plow throws the earth upon the buckets F. The wheel E has an inclined position, the side nearest the plow resting upon the ground, and 'consequently being rotated under the draft The loaded buck-V movement of the machine. ets carry the earth around to the elevated side ot the wheel, at which point the cranks i consecutively enter the recess Z in the cap H, and allow the buckets to dropso that they may discharge their load, the buckets assuming their proper position as the cranks c' pass out from therecess l. The wheel E, in consequence of being attached to the hingedbar C, is allowed t-o adjust itself to the inequalities of the surface of the ground over which it may pass, and when it is designed to have the wheel E in a horizontal position, the bar C having a lever, N, attached to it for this purpose. The plow I may also be raised out of the ground, when necessary, by actuating l earth may be plowed up at one side of a road and deposited at its center, and by operating in this manner at both sides of a road the latter may be graded in a perfect manner.-

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v y 1. The rotating, adjustable, and inclined Wheel E, provided with self-dischargin g buckets F, in combina-tion with a plow, I, said Y Vparts being attached to arframing, A, and all arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose hereinset forth.

2. Giving 'the wheel E its self-adjusting movement by attaching the same to va bar, C, connected to the framing A, by means of a hinge, B, substantially as herein described.

3. Giving the buckets F of the wheel E a self-discharging movement byattaching them to the arms bot' the wheel by means of hinges or joints d, and connecting the buckets by chains F, or their equivalents, to cranks f, at

the outer end of said rods G, theI inner ends being provided with cranks-@3,-'ove'r which aeap, H, provided with a groove, k, and recess I, is fitted, substantially as herein set forth.

CLINTON FOSTER.

iVitnes'ses; A. Y' Y i CLEMIE RUSSELL, FLORA M. FOSTER. 

